Restaurant selling ‘Erdoğan burger’ closes amid security threats

A Cologne restaurant selling a burger named after the Turkish president has closed after its owner said he could no longer guarantee the safety of staff, German paper Bild reported Monday.

The “Erdoğan burger” contained a large piece of goat’s cheese — a reference to the recent controversy in Germany after comedian Jan Böhmermann called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a “goat-f—-er” on public television on March 31. German Chancellor Angel Merkel acquiesced to a request by Turkey to launch a criminal investigation into the incident.

The manager of the Urban Burgery, Jörg Tiemann, said he was forced to close after threats to “visit” the restaurant were posted on its Facebook page by a user named Smith Wesson (a brand of firearm). Last Thursday “four muscular, dark-clad figures stood in front of the window and watched the store for 20 minutes,” he said.

Tiemann said he closed because he could no longer guarantee the safety of his staff, but is planning to report the threat to police Monday and increase security, including installing a video surveillance system.